UNODC Working Group on Trafficking in Persons

November 25, 2015

Vienna, 16.11.2015 – 18.11.2015

The Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the International Organizations in Vienna participated in the UNODC’s meeting of the Working Group on Trafficking in Persons held from November 16-18, 2015. During this Working Group, in regards to the agenda item on “National coordination mechanisms against trafficking in persons”, Mr. Hassan Soroosh, Counselor, gave a statement on Afghanistan’s experience with this agenda item. This was the first time the Afghan delegation was able to join this working group meeting, following the accession last August to the ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children’. Afghanistan has been one of the countries most affected in connection to the trafficking in persons. Over the past few years, the government of Afghanistan has made considerable efforts to improve legal, institutional and policy frameworks for combating crimes of abduction and trafficking in persons. Noteworthy is the 2008 law adopted on combating abduction and trafficking in persons and the establishment of the High Commission for Combating Crimes of Abduction and Trafficking in Persons. The High Commission has since established provincial anti-trafficking commissions in most provinces and worked on coordinating their activities country-wide. In the conclusion of the remarks, it was state that, “while we are appreciative of the technical assistance provided to our anti-trafficking efforts including through UNODC over the past few years, there is greater need for such technical assistance including in strengthening the existing national coordination mechanism. We believe that there is also need for better coordination at a regional level among national coordination mechanisms and the UNODC has an important role in creating such a regional network for coordination.”